September 14, 2014 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird will today depart for Paris, France, where he will represent Canada at the International Conference on Peace and Security in Iraq, hosted by French President François Hollande and Iraqi President Fouad Massoum.
“A coordinated international response is the only way to eradicate the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL], a ruthless terrorist organization,” said Baird. “Canada has been doing its part to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people through humanitarian assistance and contributions to the global effort to assist Iraqi forces, including Kurdish Peshmerga forces.”
This conference comes on the heels of Baird’s visit to Baghdad and Erbil, where he expressed Canada’s support for a new, inclusive Iraqi government and witnessed the devastating impact ISIL is having on the people of Iraq.
“Canada continues to strongly condemn the terrorist group ISIL, which has outrageously and indiscriminately murdered thousands of innocent civilians,” said Baird. “Tomorrow’s meetings will help identify how Canada can further assist Iraq in its struggle with ISIL.”
A backgrounder follows.
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To date in 2014, Canada has committed more than $28 million to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Of this amount, $18.8 million is for populations affected by civil unrest and $9.6 million is for Syrian refugees. This funding is helping meet the urgent health, shelter, protection and food needs of thousands of civilians in Iraq, as well as providing relief supplies and contributing to camp construction. In June 2014, Iraq was added to the list of Canada’s development country partners.
Another $10 million is for non-lethal security assistance to provide equipment such as helmets, body armour and logistics support vehicles to security forces in Iraq combatting ISIL and $5 million to support regional efforts to limit the movement of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently announced that Canada would join a broad-ranging international coalition against ISIL by sending several dozen Canadian Forces members in an advise and assist capacity to help Iraqi forces, including Kurdish Peshmerga forces, in their struggle against ISIL.
Furthermore, the Royal Canadian Air Force has delivered almost 226,800 kilograms of military supplies donated by our allies to Iraqi security forces.
